People are corporations, money has more power than ever, and billions are spent to protect and promote the interests of and hide the darkest secrets of those who want to be President of the United States. Join with me in search of the truth hidden behind these politicians' smiles.

Monday, November 28, 2011

Cottles and Weddings and Fear, Oh My!

In a comment thread over this past week, someone mentioned that the Palins are very busy. The Cottles’ have a wedding coming up and Palin’s have been invited. (Presumably the Cottles have been invited to Track and Britta’s wedding next month, too, heh?)

Today, someone asked “who are the Cottles?”

This is a quick answer to that, which is too long for a comment thread and might be of interest to general readership.

Colleen Cottle served on the Wasilla town board when Sarah was mayor, and her son is one of Todd’s best friends. Colleen is not a Sarah-bot.

We first heard the name Colleen Cottle a little more than a week after Sarah lit up the stage at the convention. In Newsweek Mag Sept 12, 2008, the article Where the Bars Are Open Till 5 AM by Amanda Coyne included this passage:

That kind of Everywoman attitude made Palin popular here. In 1996 she beat incumbent Mayor John Stein, with 651 votes to his 440. Stein challenged her three years later, and she clobbered him, 826 to 292. Wasilla was enjoying an economic boom in those years, and residents had no reason to change course. Even Colleen Cottle, who consistently voted against Mayor Palin as a member of the city council, says she was an effective mayor. "She got things done," says Cottle.

Two Septembers later, Michael Gross wrote “Sarah Palin: The Sound and the Fury” --a much less flattering piece --after visiting Wasilla. Under a portion subtitled “City of Fear”, Gross reports that when Wasilla residents are asked to comment about their former mayor,

a palpable unease creeps in. Some people clam up. Others whisper invitations to call later—but on this number, not that one, and not before this hour or after that one. So many people answer “Off the record?” to my initial questions that it almost seems the whole town has had media training.

He goes on to tell us that the only person interviewed who allowed their name to be printed was, again, Colleen Cottle. In this 2010 article she is more candid than when Sarah was running with John McCain for the most powerful next-in-line position in the country.

After one local Republican delivers 90 minutes of uninterrupted praise for Palin, I ask whom else I should talk to, and the answer comes so fast it’s like a cry for help—which is how, the next day, I end up in the living room of Colleen Cottle, who is the matriarch of one of Wasilla’s oldest families, and who served on the city council when Palin was mayor. She says she and her husband, Rodney, will pay a price for speaking candidly about Palin. Their son is one of Todd Palin’s best friends. “But it is time for people to start telling the truth,” Colleen says. She describes the frustrations of trying to do city business with a mayor who “had no attention span—with Sarah it was always ‘What’s the flavor of the day?’ ”; who was unable to take part meaningfully in conversations about budgets because she “does not understand math or accounting—she only knows buzzwords, like ‘balanced budget’ ”; and who clocked out after four hours on most days, delegating her duties to an aide—“but he’ll never talk to you, because he has a state job and doesn’t want to lose it.” This type of conversation is repeated so often that Wasilla starts to feel like something from The Twilight Zone or a Shirley Jackson short story—a place populated entirely by abuse survivors.

Colleen also shows up in the 2011 independent film and documentary by Nick Broomfield, “Sarah Palin: You Betcha.” She doesn’t hold back, so I guess she and Rodney survived whatever punishment was dealt. It’s a small town and friends and family circles overlap. Sometimes you just have to make nice whether you want to or not. Like at the weddings coming up.

So, that’s some background on the Cottles.

Again, why do we care about these things?

Here’s what Michael Gross said in September 2010 - long before we read it in books by Dunn, Bailey, or McGinniss:

"This is a person for whom there is no topic too small to lie about," he said. "She lies about everything."

"If we decide to let her keep lying and getting away with it, she's gonna still be around," he said. "But if we start returning to the standard that a politician has to talk with people, and a politician has to tell the truth, then she's outta here, because she can't stand up to that."

That, my friends, is why we continue to search for the truth, to question Palin logic, illogic, and lies, and to expose contradictions as we find them.

55 comments:

Excellent post, Allison! Colleen Cottle is the type of person we all need to read more about. Yes, the article by Michael Gross was one of the best ever on Palin, and if you remember, the MSM did everything they could to discredit it as soon as it was published.

Your mention of the "bars open until 5 a.m." reminded me of another little-known bit of Palin history. Perhaps you would like to write a post about Mark Chryson (PARADIGM SHIFT, Page 274) and his pal Steve Stoll. I have always felt that their relationship with SP in her early political rise is a crucial piece of the puzzle. Details concerning these two AIP shady characters are difficult to find. Jon Stewart did a short piece on Chryson in 2008 and I included what I could find in my book, but Stoll is practically a mystery man. These two guys and their agendas practically launched SP's political career and the media has kept mostly silent about it.

But this makes me wonder how the Cottles were able to remain unscathed by the "Palin Payback Machine."Indeed, the info from SPHASH seems to indicate that the Cottles would be visiting the Palins. Did I get that right? Huh??

The Cottles from Texas are great friends with all the Palins and Heaths. I believe only Colleen is not a friend. What's weird is, she has given two very different interviews - 08 and 10.

The Palins are still friends with basically the same people they've always been friends with. A couple have strayed, feeling left behind due to life changes. I think we can all agree that real friends allow us to grow personally and professionally.

And yes, the Cottles from Texas are either in AK now or soon will be. they are excited about seeing their Palin friends.

LOL at Miss Brooklyn pretending she knows all about the Palins' & the Cottles' when in reality, she's nothing more than a FB friend. You're fooling absolutely nobody on here or any other site. Don't you have any friends in real life that you can speak to about this strange obsession you have with pretending to be a close friend of the Palin family?

Touche AK-random letters, at least I don't falsely accuse people of things that aremerely gross lies. And at least I have met the people I speak about. I speak truth and only truth. So run along and eat paste.

Conscious at last- no way to say for sure if their was payback to the Cottles in Wasilla or not. Can't find any mention one way or the other but it shouldn't be overlooked that Colleen is referred to as "the matriarch" of the town and that the Cottle family is one of the oldest in the history of the town. She has some power of her own. Again, it may be different than Palin power sort of like royalty is different than elected across the pond.

Huh, so AKRNHSNC, if you're so willing to brush aside literal things people write on a social network, then I guess you call bloggers' analysis of myspace from 2007-08 bunk then? While I will agree that nothing can be determined from writing, it helps to actually see the action in real life.

I only print verifiable facts. Now if IM and politicalgates could only say the same... there's lots I could say regarding things. Like that Willow just applied to a pretty reputable secondary institution or Sadies boyfriend dumped her ass when he finally realized he was dating the most vain and selfish person in the world. However, all I have are literal words from those two people on facebook. I didn't hear the people in question say this. Repeating things I've verbally heard from the source is the only real way of getting to the truth.

Is there ANY blogger who investigates things this efficiently? No. They all rely on 3rd or 4th hand sources, which kills their credibility.

Allison is different, as she exerts her opinion on events. She doesn't claim the info is truth. Ahem, Gryphen, Patrick.

Allison, you refer to Colleen Cottle as a matriarch of Wasilla. What is your opinion of that description as applied to Linda Menard? Have you ever found any evidence what the attitudes between these two might be? I am sure you are aware that Linda, Sarah, and Kristan Cole were linked through the beauty pageant system in Alaska years before Sarah ran for the city council(PARADIGM SHIFT, Pages 82-83). I have always wondered if Linda Menard was a mentor to Kristan before she took Sarah under her wing? Referring back to an earlier comment I made, SP was not a Republican until Chryson and Stoll advised her to become one. The vague picture I get from this is that Cottle may have politically opposed Sarah while Menard watched her back. Maybe Sarah never really felt threatened by one matriarch while she had the support of another. Just a theory....

Floyd M. Orr - initial reaction to that is that it is quite plausible. Linda and Curtis Menard Sr were close to the Heaths from very early on and both families enjoyed their social standing and prominent employment by the men (dentist and public school teacher). What am I doing? Preaching to the choir!

Todays post rings so true to me! You are really on to something. Wasllia-Anchorage-Fairbanks it is a small world very small population.The chances of someone knowing someone else you know is extremely high. Even higher if you have money or work in a place where people can spend money. Even inmy sitaution people will not talk. I believe this is due to many factors but one of htem being intimidation. This "intimidation" tactic is very powerful in small towns. Eventually though this damn of silence will break and more truth will come out.I believe Palin will still run for Presidency. I beleive her stratgy will be to say she had no choice and will go for write in vote. She won't run against her party technically but she will run or at least eventually make the announcement to do it but she will wait until in her own mind it is the right time.My 2 cents today.

I wholeheartedly disagree. I think Sarah, for once, heeded advisors words and has said no to 2012. There is zero indication she will reconsider. Let me put it another way. Adrienne just wrote that piece for c4p. Adrienne is good friends with Sarahs brother and on good terms with her parents. Coincidence?

While I agree that everyone is connected in AK, do remember there are still many people even in the Valley who've never met Sarah or her family. This whole fear thing is kind of overblown to the point of absurdity.

Alaskans in general (at least the ones I know personally) were raised to be tough, to defend one another and to maintain a tribal community where if one person is threatened, the whole pack attacks. That is not a Palin thing. That is an Alaskan thing. Its a human thing. People in general don't like idle tongues with nothing better to do than repeat mindless gossipp I constantly hear "man the valley blows. If I don't get away from the dumbshits who feed off hate and lies, I will die"

That was an actual quote having nothing to do with Palin.

People think Wasilla is so different from any other town. It's not. It consists of people. People have feelings. People have beliefs. People protect those vlose to them.

End of story. The Palins are not regarding any different than any other Alaskan. That is true.

The sad part of the whole Alaska thing is the teens in those towns seem to have more maturity than the adults. It's the teens who let people be people. It's the teens who have each other's backs. It's the teens who defended Willow last November and condemned Tre and Matt. It's the teens who say, "leave the Palins be."

The older we grow, the more we have to regret and the more jealousy has built up. That explains why there are so many disgruntled and dishonest Alaskans. It's just a sad world when Sarah's family feels the need to write a factual book recounting their lovely lives growing up in the last frontier. God Bless em. And I truly hope every person who has ever lied about Sarah Palin is feeling the intense wrath of karma now and forever. THey deserve nothing more. Idle minds create great fantasy.

"The Cottles from Texas are great friends with all the Palins and Heaths."

Yeah, not so much. I guess you don't know the Cottles well enough to know who Bert Cottle is do you Brooklyn? Former Mayor and Chief of Police of Valdez. The person she conned into getting 300k released to her campaign from the Ak Republican coffers. The person she conned into having the AGPA make a commercial for during her campaign that gave her millions of dollars in free publicity, just happens to be the very first person her administration threw under the bus as Chairman of the AGPA. He's now the Deputy Administrator in Wasilla and would be the first person to tell you she's total and complete fucking fraud.

Tuesday Tutorial- Karma is not fueled by wrath- it is simply about action and reaction. One might even understand it via the laws of physics.

For example, someone who issues hateful rhetoric will eventually be the recipient of resentment.If the hateful rhetoric continues, the blow back will grow. If, OTOH, someone sends out kindness, they will receive positive energies.: - ))

Consious at Last AND Floyd M. Orr --- here are a couple of related ditties, something culled from the archives of Immoral Minority icomment threads. IBoth references what happened after the Cottles were named and quoted in Vanity Fair, one alludes to the power of the Menards in Wasilla.

This comment on the thread of a Nov. 5, 2010 thread following a post about the first episode of Sarah Paiin's Alaska:

...there are striking similarities in every story about $arah.

And not everyone spoke on the condition of anonymity. And we know why. An elderly woman, Colleen Cottle, who has EARNED the right to speak her mind after living a good life that includes serving her community, was threatened by her adult children for speaking her mind about Palin. Her adult children would never speak to her again unless she took back her words.

Is that what the Palins are all about? Forcing their "friends" to threaten their elderly parents for speaking their mind about $arah?

THE SECOND ONE may be from the same person, it was entered on comments for and April 13, 2011 post:

Having read Shannyn's email to Gross, which was posted on Slate, It is clear that for one, Shannyn was mad about how she was portrayed. I guess she wanted to be written as the Alistair Cooke of Alaska.

Second, she was mad that Gross (accurately) quoted Colleen Cottle and it got Colleen in trouble with her son. Apparently, Colleen's grown son was pissed that his mother's honesty got him in hot water with Todd Palin, town bully. Colleen's grown children then, according to Shannyn, threatened to stop speaking to their mother unless she recanted. Funny how Moore never diputes the accuracy of the Cottle quote--only that it was printed. Seems to me that Shannyn's anger was misplaced. It should have been directed at the Cottle children who appear to have more fear of the Palins than respect for their own mother.7:53 AM

Oh heavens...I see the 'crazy stalker lady" has shown up here spewing incoherent nonsense and babbling about the family of gargoyles!

Allison I remember that Vanity Fair article about Shannyn....she went after that writer with both barrels....that's actually when I stopped reading her blog...the guy mentioned that her and Jeanne were trying to get money to restore a theater but I think she used Colleen Cottles as an excuse or deflection...she didn't want folks to know they were doing that....I wonder what happened to the theater?

PS....and Barb...get that crazy troll...she doesn't know shit about that gargoyle family but it sure doesn't stop her from "making shit up"! LOL!!!

Gina M, I was happy when I saw your moniker here. Brad's turned up the heat and it's going to bring out all the "interested parties" :) Promises to be good time for most but not Sarah, Todd or their immediates.

Carrie I asked a simple question at IM today and the thread went crazy. Seriously, though, I thought someone once said Britta's mom and Linda Menard were related. Does anyone else know about that? Is it by marriage? Or did I "misremember" (t-y George Bush)?

There must be a mental health clinic somewhere close to your home. If so, please find it and get help. Your posts are jumping from one topic to another. WTF does your MySpace from 2007 have to do with anything we're talking about? Nothing! If you really knew the Palins' and were friends with them, the last thing you would do would be to go to any website and defend them. You say they sit around and laugh at the haters, if you were a friend, you'd be right there laughing with them. You're just a troll, get back under the bridge. You're a joke!

Oh good lord....crazy stalker lady has turned into that neighborhood old lady who wears the dirty housecoat with her slip showing...hair in rollers....maybe with a touch of Gladys Kravitz nosiness....bothering all the neighbors. You know the lady I'm talking about...she got a bunch of cats...weaving in and out between her legs...meowing for some food...but she's so damn nosy she neglects them....LADY GET SOME HELP NOW!

Found the answer to my own question. It was on Syrin's blog comment thread Aug 9 2011

GuestAug 09, 2011 @ 11:43:49

On IM someone implied Britta is a granddaughter of Curtis Menard Jr. Don’t see how that’s possible when Track is also rumored to be offspring of same. Looking at the wedding picture raises more questions. Track looks like he could be the son of Britta’s mom (don’t get me wrong, I am NOT saying they are brother and sister). There’s a real resemblance between Mrs. Hansen and Track. Was she a Menard before she was a Hansen?

REPLYSarah Palin has a serpent's heartAug 09, 2011 @ 20:24:14

That was me. I don’t think Elizabeth Hanson is a Menard. The Menard family moved from MI to AK in the 60′s and if old Curt was still alive he would be in his mid 70′s, too young to be Elizabeths father.

*****

At least I wasn't hallucinating. What I remembered was that I found an online pic of Curtis Jr (or was it Sr?) and put it next to one of Britta and saw why someone might think they were related. That proves nothing, but it stuck in my head.

Why would it be a bad thing to be related to either the menards or Hansons? Both are great families people love.

I think everyone here needs to check into accommodations where shawn christy is staying. And Gina, seriously. What happened to you to make you so hateful and blind toward truth?

And why do you think screenshots will help you understand here? You ignore the screenshots of the girl who deems it acceptable to call special needs children retarded. However, screenshots will be forthcoming.

Wasilla seems like a very incestuous place to live. Everybody knows everybody and all of their business. What strikes me as funny is people who refer to it as "America's last frontier." They have a Walmart! You don't get to be a frontier if you have a Walmart, and Walmart shoppers are not pioneers! Geeze. How dumb can some people be?

Thanks Carrie for the heads up....Um...Allison I don't mean to dirty up your wonderful blog but I'm gonna have to get a little ghetto here on "symbols and numbers up there...*clearing my throat....*slowly rotating my head and looking dead at "f9dumbshitforbrains-1b-puttingmyfootupherass-000whatever"

Did somebody say my name.....AGAIN? *heavy SIGH*....oh it's the dirty housecoat wearing crazy stalker lady. Look you old bat....let me see if I can explain this to you in your hillbilly language.....NOBDY SAD THT TRIG SHLD BEE ABRTD. The crap you posted are some teenage hillbillies talking in hillbilly language...with NO EDUCATION who live in bumfuck Wasilla, Alaska! When you show us some screenshots from "liberals" that we actually heard of...then stupid ass we can talk...until then....STFU...get off the computer...take a shower, bath...whatever I don't give a shit....and stop dropping my name all over the blogs you old crazy crone!

Ivy, well, considering there are teenagers who are more successful than a couple 30 somethings I've met and it's not hard to be independent and prosperous at any age, I'd say Alaska is unique as they come. Decades ago, it was still untouched territory that people didn't think about. People will never not think of Alaska as wonder and beauty. I visit every other year and probably will forever.

Like it or not Alaskans, Sarah will always call your state home. So get over yourselves and get lives.

And pretty much all small towns have an incestuous feel. Heck, Manhattan has an incestuous feel as I constantly run into my past relationships and people I thought I'd never see again.

Here is one screenshot I found amongst my random files.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/69155833@N02/6428095091/in/photostream

And Gina, I will stop dropping your name the day you grow up. As it stands, that day will probably never come. Are you worried I am making your immature self look bad? Honey child, you do a fine job of that yourself.

And Gina, I will stop dropping your name the day you grow up. As it stands, that day will probably never come. Are you worried I am making your immature self look bad? Honey child, you do a fine job of that yourself. November 29, 2011 5:19 PM

LOL!!! Now I know it's you Governor Dirty Wig! Somebody's sheet is showing! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!Bring it on Troll....I know a LOT more about you than you think! HeHe!

Allison -- My humble suggestion: in order to post here, one should need to provide (privately, to you the blog administrator) an email address. Your 'opaque identity' visitor is wasting a lot of everyone's time here, no?

Used to have a sad and pathetic 'neighbor' who walked her dog to my front lawn 4-5-6 times a day in order to stand outside and stare in my windows, scowling and muttering in disapproval, twenty minutes at a time. numberlettersequence kind of feels like deja vu. (Neighbor's name was Mildred, the dog was a skipperkie, and she died in her home alone left unfound for several days afterward. We neighbors who'd been on her daily route of 'Judgements' with a capital 'J' all breathed a collective sigh at her 'deliverance'.) Our bad. Long story short -- shouldn't this person go packing?

Btw. I'm aware you were talking about me. I just thought I'd politely inform you of how ignorant you are being. Way to support the 1st amendment. What are you afraid of? It terrifies you that I only speak truth abd that your opinions are based on lies and huge exaggerations.

Just be rational. Set aside your emotions in order to engage in an intellectual manner. And don't hate anyone. Be the person you want you childre to be. Love.

Oh Gina, if you'd let me get you help, I'd much oblige. I will even pay for the country's best shrink if it helps you become a nice person. I haven't narrowed down my charities to support this xmas. I would gladly help you become mentally well so you can live a happy life that doesn't consist of constantly attacking people you don't know on a blog.

Been a good, long while since I've posted here, but in answer to someone's question about when Sarah joined the Republican Party in Alaska, look no further than this videotape from 2007.

This video was taken in Nashville in October 2007. In it, AIP co-chairman Dexter Clark states, at 6:00 to 7:00 in the video, that Palin joined the Republican Party to "go along". "To get along, you have to go along. So Sarah joined the Republican Party." Prior to her joining the GOP, he states Sarah WAS A MEMBER OF THE AIP. His wife Lynette Clark, the AIP chairperson, later tried to walk-back his statement after Sarah became the VP nominee in 2008.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NK2sFJebGc

From the guy who posted the video: "Held Oct 3-4 (2007) in Chattanooga, TN The 2nd Secessionist Convention excluded no secessionist organization no matter how small. The Alaska Independence Party, of which Dexter Clark is vice-chair, is one of the biggest and most well respected - for good reason!"

Later in the video, Dexter speaks about how important it is for "like-minded" people in the room to infiltrate an Official Party - like Rand Paul and Palin have. "If you're their nominee, they gotta back ya."

You done good, KAO! I had not seen that video before now. I had always known that Sarah was affiliated with AIP prior to the beginning of her political career, but I had never found any actual evidence that she was an official AIP member. We all have known that Todd was officially a member for several years, but Sarah's official membership has been in question until now. This is one of those videos that needs to go viral!

Great find, KAO! When the video of Palin as Governor giving a welcoming address to the AIP party first surfaced, I remember thinking that this woman obviously didn't have any national government positions in mind for herself or she wouldn't have done something so contrary to the GOP party. Once I learned more about Palin, I realized that she had no problem denying anything she had done whether it was captured on video or written for everyone to see. Stoll and Chryson, both of AIP fame, helped to launch Palin's career and she promptly did them several favors when she became Mayor. She may have been voting as a member of the GOP but her heart was with the AIP.

and... here, you get to "know" the real Bob Bird, the 2008 AIP candidate for US Senate from Alaska, and his ratings - and knowledge about Palin being in / working with / speaking out for The AIP.

http://www.birdforsenate.com/news.html

These people linking Palin to the AIP and posting it online are as dumb as a truckload of rocks. BTW, these links were given to me by HopeForAmerica, another commentor / contributor over at PoliticalGates. blogspot.com

These people are the kind of supporters Sarah attracts / is connected to. They're so proud of their association / connection / relationship with her that they post this sort of "incriminating" video / information linking her to The AIP and people (like Bird) within that party. It makes it EZ for us to find.

That's why I say they're as dumb as a truckload of rocks. To be effective, they shouldn't undermine her efforts to distance herself from the party. But they feel they must flaunt their connections to her. It's a double-edged sword - for Palin.

Remember what Dexter Clark said: "...to get along, sometimes you have to go along to get ahead."

Thanks for posting that bit for Shailey, Allison."The chances of someone knowing someone else you know is extremely high. Even inmy sitaution people will not talk. I believe this is due to many factors but one of htem being intimidation. This "intimidation" tactic is very powerful in small towns."

Yep, in Wasilla, even Anchorage and statewide, the chances of mutual acquaintance is huge. Likely, in fact. Alaska is a very small town...

But that degree of separation is directly proportional to the amount of time spent in the state and the circles you travel in.In general, citizens in Wasilla don't necessarily know each other. There's a huge number of new arrivals from out of state, every year. People are very very different from each other. White-collar professionals, aviation industry, lots of teachers, nurses and oilfield workers, and the substantial cross-section of low-income that live out there because its cheaper than everywhere. Keep in mind that it's not a rugged rural outpost like Sarah likes to paint it, but the primary bedroom community for Anchorage commuters. This is the "new" Alaska. They don't know their neighbors.

The picture is very different when it comes to long-time Matsu residents of several generations. Like Sarah's family, the Palins, the Menards. They DO all know each other, even when they don't like each other, and know quite a lot of other people around the state.

In Shailey's case, her family was new to Alaska and even newer to Wasilla. Shailey was 26. It's not like she went to school there, which is how people tend to know each other. A fair number of people DO know her parents as professionals in the business community - communications and human services. They owned a popular restaurant. Shailey, not so much. A few. There's been a fair bit of gossip, of course. What needs to be understood is that those shops and owners and hairdressers are STILL THERE. They're not intimidated - most don't actually know who she is. She wasn't there long enough and she moved about a lot. Some do and want to put distance between them, understandably, lest they and their shops attract unwanted attention for allegations of prostitution. Particularly the shop manager/owner that Shailey credits with telling her to take her shirt off and that she could make extra money for doing "happy endings."There are loyalties in that town and in the world of hairdressers, as one might expect.

As far as Anchorage goes, her business associates are intent on staying off the radar and not drawing any attention to themselves.